Airless spray gun

ABSTRACT

An airless spray gun is disclosed herein which has a substantially reduced number of component parts. The gun includes a trigger locking assembly for preventing the actuation of the spray gun as desired. The airless spray gun also includes a novel valve rod and means for detachably mounting the same in the gun which permits rapid assembly and disassembly of the gun. An improved valve seat is also disclosed which substantially reduces the cost of manufacturing the same.

Malec AIRLESS SPRAY GUN [76] Inventor: Jerry P. Malec, 5108 N. 85th St,

Omaha, Nebr. 68134 [22] Filed: Apr. 27, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 355,299

Related US. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 219,699, Jan. 21, 1972, Pat. No.

[52] US. Cl. 239/526, 239/583 [51] Int. Cl. B05b 1/32 [58] Field of Search 239/526, 525, 583

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,705,663 4/1955 Gilbreath 239/526 X 2,969,926 1/1961 Peeps 239/526 3,000,576 9/1961 Levey et al. 239/526 X 3,380,705 4/1968 Enssle 239/526 X Oct. 29, 1974 3,410,491 11/1968 Malec ..239/526 Primary Examiner-M. Henson Wood, Jr.

Assistant Examiner-Michae1 Y. Mar

Attorney, Agent, or Firm--Zarley, McKee, Thomte & Voorhees [5 7] ABSTRACT An airless spray gun is disclosed herein which has a substantially reduced number of component parts. The gun includes a trigger locking assembly for preventing the actuation of the spray gun as desired. The airless spray gun also includes a novel valve rod and means for detachably mounting the same inrthe gun which permits rapid assembly and disassembly of the gun. An improved valve seat is also disclosed which substantially reduces the cost of manufacturing the same.

5 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures AIRLESS SPRAY GUN This is a divisional application of Ser. No. 219,699 filed Jan. 21, I972 now US. Pat. No. 3,780,953.

Conventional airless spray guns have an extremely large number of component parts which greatly adds to the cost of manufacturing the same. Conventional airless spray guns are not easily assembled and disassembled due to the means for mounting the valve rods in the gun. The assembly and disassembly of the conventional airless spray guns is also difficult and time consuming due to the construction of the trigger locking assemblies. The present means for manufacturing the valve seats of the conventional airless spray guns is also time consuming and expensive.

Therefore, it is a principal object of this invention to provide an improved airless spray gun.

A further object of this invention is to provide an airless spray gun having a substantially reduced number of component parts.

A further object of this invention is to provide an air less spray gun which is easily manufactured.

A further object of this invention is to provide an airless spray gun including novel means for mounting the valve rod therein.

A further object of this invention is to provide an airless spray gun which is quickly and easily assembled and disassembled.

A further object of this invention is to provide an airless spray gun having a novel valve seat provided therein.

A further object of this invention is to provide an airless spray gun which is efficient in operation, durable in use and refined in appearance.

These and other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

This invention consists in the construction, arrangements, and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, specifically pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. I is a side view of the gun of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the gun as seen along lines 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view of the gun.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view as seen along lines 4-4 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 3 except that the trigger is shown in its depressed position.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of the noule assembly, manifold assembly and trigger locking assembly.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view as seen along lines 7--7 of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 8 is a side view of the trigger sleeve as it would appear after being rotated to permit its removal from the gun.

The airless spray gun of this invention is referred to generally by the reference numeral 10 and includes a handle 12 which extends downwardly from gun body 14. For purposes of description, the numeral 16 designates a wall member which extends downwardly from the forward end of body 14 and thence defines a trigger guard 18. Bore 20 extends through body 14 and is aligned with a bore 22 extending through wall member 16. The bores 20 and 22 may be drilled in the gun in one operation due to their aligned relationship and due to the fact that they have the same diameters which substantially reduces the cost of manufacturing the gun.

Manifold 24 has a cylindrical portion 26 which is received by the bore 22 as seen in FIG. 3 and which is maintained therein by means of manifold retainer nut 28 threadably secured to the rearward end thereof. Manifold 24 is prevented from rotational movement with respect to the gun body by means of manifold pin 30 extending rearwardly from the :manifold 24 into the bore 32 formed in wall member 16. Manifold connector 34 extends downwardly from manifold 24 for connection to a source of spray material.

The numeral 36 refers to a carbide valve seat positioned in valve tip 38 and maintained therein by valve sleeve 40 which is threadably received by valve tip 38 as illustrated in FIG. 3. Valve tip 38 is threadably received by the forward end of manifold 24 so that sleeve 40 is positioned in bore 42 of manifold 24. A nylon valve seal 44 is positioned forwardly of tip 38 with spray nozzle 46 being positioned forwardly of seal 44. Valve gasket 45 is positioned between the forward end of manifold 24 and the head of the valve tip 38. Nozzle 46 and seal 44 are maintained in position by the spray nozzle retainer 48 which is threadably mounted on manifold 42 as seen in FIG. 3.

Valve rod 50 is longitudinally movably received by valve sleeve 40 and has a valve ball 52 mounted on the forward end thereof adapted to seat upon the valve seat 36. Valve rod 50 has a transversely extending valve pin 54 at its forward end which is detachably received by connecting rod connector 56. Connector 56 is provided with a circular bore 58 extending inwardly thereinto from its forward end. A pair of oppositely disposed grooves 60 and 62 are formed in connector 56 which communicate with bore 58 as seen in the drawings. The grooves 60 and 62 are adapted to removably receive the opposite ends of the valve pin 54 so that longitudinal movement of connector 56 will cause longitudinal movement of rod 50.

Connector rod 64 is threadably secured to the rearward end of connector 56 and extends rearwardly therefrom through a Teflon packing 65 and through a manifold packing nut 66 threadably mounted in manifold 24. Lock nut 68 prevents rod 64 from becoming accidentally disconnected from connector 56.

Trigger sleeve 70 is slidably mounted in bore 20 and has a bore 72 extending therethrough which receives the connecting rod 64. The rearward end of bore 72 is provided with an enlarged diameter portion to receive the snap-ring 74 which is detachably secured to the rod 64. Thus, rearward movement of sleeve 70 causes rod 64 and the components secured thereto to be moved rearwardly. Sleeve 70 has a vertical groove 76 at its forward end which is adapted to receive the upper end of trigger 78. Trigger 78 is pivoted at its upper end by means of trigger screw 80.

Sleeve 70 is provided with a milled flat 82 which extends forwardly from the rearward end thereof. Sleeve 70 is also provided with a channel 84 which is formed therein forwardly of the rearward end thereof and which extends transversely with respect to the longitudinal axis of the sleeve and which communicates with the forward end of the flat" 82. A flat" 86 is formed at the intersection of flat 82 and channel 84. Locating pin 85 extends through the body 14 and through the channel 84 of sleeve 70 to limit the rearward and forward movement of the sleeve and to maintain the sleeve 70 within the bore 20.

The forward end of trigger spring 88 is received in the rearward end of the enlarged diameter portion of the bore 72. The rearward end of spring 88 is received by bore 90 in sleeve lock 92. Sleeve lock 92 has a channel 98 formed therein which is transversely disposed with respect to the longitudinal axis thereof which is adapted to receive the locator pin 100 extending through body 14. Channel 98 has a sufficient vertical height to permit the sleeve lock 92 to be selectively sufficiently rotated to permit the locking of the trigger as will be explained hereinafter.

Tension cap 102 is adjustably threadably mounted in sleeve lock 92 as seen in FIG. 3 to permit the selective tension adjustment of spring 88 since the forward end of cap 102 engages the rearward end of the spring 88. Lock pin 104 extends forwardly from the forward end of sleeve lock 92 and terminates rearwardly of the rearward end of trigger sleeve 70 when the trigger is in its normal position (FIG. 3).

The normal method of operation is as follows. Assuming that the gun is in its assembled condition and that the trigger is in its normal position as illustrated in FIG. 3, the spray fluid will not bypass the valve ball 52 since the spring 88 urges the valve ball 52 into seating engagement with the valve seat 36. It can be seen that the rearward ends of the grooves 60 and 62 bear against the rearward ends of the valve pin 54 to urge the valve rod 50 towards the valve seat 36. With the lock knob 94 in its unlocked position as seen in FIGS. 3 and 5, pivotal movement of the trigger 78 causes the trigger sleeve 70 to be slidably moved rearwardly in the bore 20. Rearward slidable movement of the trigger sleeve 70 causes the connecting rod 64 to pull the valve rod 50 rearwardly from the valve seat 36. Rearward slidable movement of the trigger sleeve 70 is permitted since the lock pin 104 will be received by the flat 82. The trigger may be locked by simply rotated the lock knob 94 which causes the sleeve lock 92 to be rotated. Rotation of the sleeve lock 92 to its locked position causes the lock pin 104 to be moved with respect to the flat 82 so that the lock pin 104 will be closely adjacent the rearward end of the trigger sleeve 70. When the lock knob is in its locked position, the pin 104 prevents the trigger sleeve 70 from slidably moving rearwardly since the pin 104 will no longer be received by the flat 82 but will engage the rearward end of the trigger sleeve 70.

The construction of the gun permits the valve rod 50 to be removed therefrom without disassembling the entire gun as is the case with most conventional guns. The valve rod 50 is removed by simply removing the spray nozzle retainer 48 and the valve seal 44 from the forward end of the manifold. The valve tip 38 is then threadably removed from the manifold 24 which exposes the forward end of the valve rod 50. The valve rod 50 is then grasped and pivoted or moved with respect to the connecting rod connector 56 so that one of the pins of the valve pin 54 can be disengaged from its respective groove which then permits the valve rod 50 to be removed from the connecting rod connector 56. The relationship of the diameters of the valve rod 50, opening 58 and the width of the grooves 60 and 62 is such that the valve rod 50 may be sufficiently pivoted or moved to cause the disengagement of the valve pin elements from the grooves 60 and 62. Thus, the valve rod 50 can be removed from the manifold without removing the connecting rod connector 56 or any of the components rearwardly thereof.

If it is desired to further disassemble the gun, the manifold packing nut 66 and the manifold retainer nut 28 are also removed from the rearward end of the manifold 24. The trigger screw is then removed to permit the trigger to be moved downwardly so that the trigger may be disengaged from the vertical groove 76 of trigger sleeve 70. The trigger sleeve 70 is then manually rotated with respect to the locating pin so that the trigger sleeve 70 may be removed from the bore 20 in a forwardly direction therefrom. This is made possible by the flat 86 which permits the rotation of the sleeve 70 so that the flat" 82 will be positioned over the locating pin 85. When the flat" 82 is so located, the sleeve 70 may be slidably moved forwardly from the bore 20 without removing the locator pin 85. The snap ring 74 may then be removed from the connecting rod 64 which permits substantially complete disassembly of the gun. The lock mechanism may be removed from the gun by removing the locator pin 100.

FIG. 7 illustrates the configuration of the valve seat 36 in somewhat greater detail. The seat 36 is formed by casting the same from carbide. The opening would be formed during the casting and would have the angularly disposed surfaces 112 and 113. The opening 110 is then ground and lapped at the intersection of the surfaces 112 and 113 so that a surface 114 is formed which is tangent to valve ball 52. it is easier to grind a tangent on the carbide where the two surfaces 112 and 113 intersect than to grind an entire single angle cone. The intersection of the surfaces 112 and 113 requires very little grinding and lapping as compared to a normal seat of a single angle which must be ground over its entire internal surface and substantially reduces grinding and overlapping time.

I claim:

1. An airless spray gun comprising,

a gun body,

a valve means on said gun body for controlling the flow of spray fluid,

a trigger pivotally secured to said gun body,

connecting means connecting said trigger and said valve means for controlling said valve means, said trigger being movable from a first position wherein said valve means is closed to a second position wherein said valve means is open,

said valve means comprises a valve seat and a valve member movable into seating engagement with said valve seat,

said connecting means comprising a first elongated connecting element operatively secured at one end to said trigger for movement therewith, a connector secured to the other end of said first connecting element, and a valve rod, having opposite ends, detachably secured at one end to said connector, said valve member being mounted on the other end of valve rod,

said valve seat comprising a support having an opening extending therethrough, said opening being defined by first and second wall portions being angularly disposed with respect to each other, an annular seat portion at the intersection of said wall portions, said annular seat portion being angularly disposed with respect to said first and second wall portions, said valve member being a valve ball, said annular seat portion being tangent to that portion of the exterior surface of said valve ball which engages said seat portion.

2. The spray gun of claim 1 wherein said valve seat is cast from carbide material, said annular seat portion being ground therein after the seat has been cast.

3. An airless spray gun comprising,

a gun body having a forward end,

a manifold means having rearward and forward ends, said manifold means being secured at its rearward end to the forward end of said gun,

a valve means in said manifold means for controlling the flow of spray fluid,

a trigger pivotally secured to said gun body rearwardly of the forward end thereof,

said valve means comprising a valve seat operatively removably secured to said manifold at the forward end thereof, and a valve member rearwardly of said valve seat and being movable into seating engagement with said valve seat, a connector means in said manifold means rearwardly of said valve seat, a valve rod removably secured to said connector means and extending forwardly therefrom, said valve means being on the forward end of said valve rod,

and connecting means secured to said connector means connecting said connector means and said trigger whereby movement of said trigger causes said valve member to move with respect to said valve seat,

said manifold means being in communication with a source of spray fluid.

4. The airless spray gun of claim 3 wherein said connector means has a forward end and wherein said connector means has a first opening extending rearwardly thereinto from its forward end, said connector means having first and second grooves formed therein which communicate with and which extend radially outwardly from said first opening, said valve rod having first and second pin elements extending from the rearward end thereof which are removably received by said first and second grooves respectively.

5. The airless spray gun of claim 4 wherein the diameters of said first opening and said valve rod and the width of said first and second grooves have a relationship so that said valve rod may be selectively moved with respect to said connector means to cause the disengagement of the first and second pin elements from the said first and second grooves so that said valve rod may be removed from the manifold means without disconnecting the connector means from the connecting means. 

1. An airless spray gun comprising, a gun body, a valve means on said gun body for controlling the flow of spray fluid, a trigger pivotally secured to said gun body, connecting means connecting said trigger and said valve means for controlling said valve means, said trigger being movable from a first position wherein said valve means is closed to a second position wherein said valve means is open, said valve means comprises a valve seat and a valve member movable into seating engagement with said valve seat, said connecting means comprising a first elongated connecting element operatively secured at one end to said trigger for movement therewith, a connector secured to the other end of said first connecting element, and a valve rod, having opposite ends, detachably secured at one end to said connector, said valve member being mounted on the other end of valve rod, said valve seat comprising a support having an opening extending therethrough, said opening being defined by first and second wall portions being angularly disposed with respect to each other, an annular seat portion at the intersection of said wall portions, said annular seat portion being angularly disposed with respect to said first and second wall portions, said valve member being a valve ball, said annular seat portion being tangent to that portion of the exterior surface of said valve ball which engages said seat portion.
 2. The spray gun of claim 1 wherein said valve seat is cast from carbide material, said annular seat portion being ground therein after the seat has been cast.
 3. An airless spray gun comprising, a gun body having a forward end, a manifold means having rearward and forward ends, said manifold means being secured at its rearward end to the forward end of said gun, a valve means in said manifold means for controlling the flow of spray fluid, a trigger pivotally secured to said gun body rearwardly of the forward end thereof, said valve means comprising a valve seat operatively removably secured to said manifold at the forward end thereof, and a valve member rearwardly of said valve seat and being movable into seating engagement with said valve seat, a connector means in said manifold means rearwardly of said valve seat, a valve rod removably secured to said connector means and extending forwardly therefrom, said valve means being on the forward end of said valve rod, and connecting means secured to said connector means connecting said connector means and said trigger whereby movement of said trigger causes said valve member to move with respect to said valve seat, said manifold means being in communication with a source of spray fluid.
 4. The airless spray gun of claim 3 wherein said connector means has a forward end and wherein saiD connector means has a first opening extending rearwardly thereinto from its forward end, said connector means having first and second grooves formed therein which communicate with and which extend radially outwardly from said first opening, said valve rod having first and second pin elements extending from the rearward end thereof which are removably received by said first and second grooves respectively.
 5. The airless spray gun of claim 4 wherein the diameters of said first opening and said valve rod and the width of said first and second grooves have a relationship so that said valve rod may be selectively moved with respect to said connector means to cause the disengagement of the first and second pin elements from the said first and second grooves so that said valve rod may be removed from the manifold means without disconnecting the connector means from the connecting means. 